Astronomy Picture of the Day |
APOD: 2024 September 10 – Horsehead and Orion Nebulas
Explanation:
The dark Horsehead Nebula and the glowing
Orion Nebula are contrasting cosmic vistas.
Adrift 1,500 light-years away in one of
the night sky's
most recognizable
constellations,
they appear in opposite corners of the above
stunning mosaic.
The familiar Horsehead
nebula appears as a dark cloud, a
small silhouette
notched against the long glow of hydrogen -- here shown in gold -- at the lower left.
Alnitak is the easternmost star in
Orion's belt and is seen as the bright
star to the left of the
Horsehead.
Just below Alnitak is the
Flame Nebula, with clouds of
bright emission and
dramatic dark dust lanes.
The magnificent emission region, the
Orion Nebula (aka M42), lies at the upper right.
Immediately to its left is a prominent
reflection nebula sometimes called the Running Man.
Pervasive tendrils
of glowing hydrogen gas are easily
traced
throughout the region.
APOD: 2024 January 5 - Trapezium: At the Heart of Orion
Explanation:
Near the center of
this sharp cosmic portrait, at
the heart of the Orion Nebula,
are four hot, massive stars
known as
the Trapezium.
Gathered within a region about 1.5 light-years in radius,
they dominate the core of the dense Orion Nebula Star Cluster.
Ultraviolet
ionizing radiation from the
Trapezium stars,
mostly from the brightest star
Theta-1 Orionis C
powers the complex star forming region's entire visible glow.
About three million years old, the Orion Nebula Cluster was
even more compact in its younger years and a
dynamical study
indicates that
runaway stellar collisions
at an earlier age may have formed a
black hole
with more than 100 times the mass of the Sun.
The presence of a
black hole within the cluster
could explain the observed high velocities of the
Trapezium stars.
The Orion Nebula's distance of some 1,500 light-years would make it one
of the
closest known black holes
to planet Earth.
APOD: 2023 October 10 – Hidden Orion from Webb
Explanation:
The Great Nebula in Orion has hidden stars.
To the unaided eye in visible light, it appears as a small
fuzzy patch in the
constellation of Orion.
But this image was taken by the
Webb Space Telescope
in a representative-color composite of red and very near
infrared light.
It confirms with impressive detail that the
Orion Nebula is a busy neighborhood of
young stars, hot gas, and dark dust.
The rollover image
shows the same image in representative colors further into the
near infrared.
The power behind much of the
Orion Nebula (M42) is the
Trapezium -
a cluster of bright stars near the nebula's center.
The diffuse and
filamentary glow
surrounding the bright stars is mostly heated interstellar
dust.
Detailed inspection of these images shows an
unexpectedly large number of Jupiter-Mass Binary Objects
(JuMBOs), pairs of Jupiter-mass
objects which might give a clue to how stars are forming.
The whole
Orion Nebula cloud complex, which
includes the
Horsehead Nebula,
will slowly disperse over the next few million years.
APOD: 2023 April 7 - Rigel Wide
Explanation:
Brilliant, blue, supergiant star Rigel
marks the foot of Orion the Hunter in
planet Earth's night.
Designated Beta Orionis,
it's at the center of this remarkably
deep and wide field of view.
Rigel's blue color indicates that it is much hotter than its
rival supergiant in Orion the yellowish
Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis),
though both stars are massive enough to eventually
end their days
as
core collapse supernovae.
Some 860 light-years away, Rigel is hotter than the Sun too
and extends to about 74 times the solar radius.
That's about the size of the orbit of Mercury.
In the 10 degree wide frame toward the nebula rich
constellation, the Orion Nebula is at the upper left.
To the right of Rigel and illuminated by its brilliant blue starlight
lies the dusty Witch Head Nebula.
Rigel is part
of a multiple star system, though its companion stars
are much fainter.
APOD: 2023 March 10 - Orion and the Running Man
Explanation:
Few cosmic vistas excite the imagination like
The Great Nebula in Orion.
Visible as a faint celestial smudge
to the naked-eye,
the nearest large star-forming region sprawls across
this sharp telescopic image,
recorded on a cold January night in dark skies
from West Virginia, planet Earth.
Also known as
M42,
the Orion Nebula's glowing gas surrounds
hot, young stars.
About 40 light-years across, it lies at the edge of an immense interstellar
molecular cloud
only 1,500 light-years away
within the same spiral arm of our Milky Way galaxy as the Sun.
Along with dusty bluish reflection nebula
NGC 1977 and friends
near the top of the frame,
the eye-catching nebulae represent only a
small fraction of our
galactic neighborhood's
wealth of star-forming material.
Within the well-studied stellar nursery,
astronomers have also identified
what appear to be numerous
infant solar systems.
APOD: 2022 September 21 - The Horsehead Nebula in Infrared from Hubble
Explanation:
While drifting through the cosmos,
a magnificent interstellar dust cloud became sculpted by
stellar winds and radiation to assume a
recognizable shape.
Fittingly named the
Horsehead Nebula, it is embedded in the
vast and complex Orion Nebula (M42).
A potentially rewarding but difficult object to
view personally
with a small telescope, the
featured gorgeously detailed image was
taken in
infrared light
by the orbiting
Hubble Space Telescope.
The dark molecular cloud, roughly 1,500
light years distant, is cataloged as Barnard 33 and is seen above primarily because it is backlit by the nearby massive star
Sigma Orionis.
The Horsehead Nebula will slowly shift its
apparent shape over the next few million years and will eventually be
destroyed by
high energy starlight.
APOD: 2021 October 6 - M43: Streams of Orion
Explanation:
Where do the dark streams of dust in the Orion Nebula originate?
This part of the
Orion Molecular Cloud
Complex,
M43,
is the often imaged but rarely mentioned neighbor
of the more famous M42.
M42, seen in part
to the upper right, includes many bright stars from the
Trapezium star
cluster.
M43
is itself a star forming region that displays intricately-laced
streams of dark dust -- although it is really composed mostly of glowing
hydrogen gas.
The entire
Orion field is located about 1600
light years away.
Opaque to visible light, the picturesque dark
dust is
created in the outer atmosphere of massive cool stars and expelled by strong
outer winds of
protons and
electrons.
APOD: 2021 June 29 - Orion Nebula: The Hubble View
Explanation:
Few cosmic vistas excite the imagination like
the Orion Nebula.
Also known as
M42,
the nebula's glowing gas surrounds hot young stars at the edge of an
immense interstellar
molecular cloud only 1,500 light-years away.
The Orion Nebula offers one of the best opportunities to study how
stars are born partly because it is the nearest large
star-forming region,
but also because the nebula's
energetic stars have blown away
obscuring gas and dust clouds that would otherwise block our view -
providing an intimate look at a range of ongoing stages
of starbirth and evolution.
The featured image of the
Orion Nebula is among the sharpest ever, constructed using data from the
Hubble Space Telescope.
The entire Orion Nebula spans about 40
light years
and is located in the same spiral arm of our Galaxy as
the Sun.
APOD: 2021 May 9 - Horsehead and Orion Nebulas
Explanation:
The dark Horsehead Nebula and the glowing
Orion Nebula are contrasting cosmic vistas.
Adrift 1,500 light-years away in one of
the night sky's
most recognizable
constellations,
they appear in opposite corners of the above
stunning mosaic.
The familiar Horsehead
nebula appears as a dark cloud, a
small silhouette
notched against the long red glow at the lower left.
Alnitak is the easternmost star in
Orion's belt and is seen as the brightest
star to the left of the
Horsehead.
Below Alnitak is the
Flame Nebula, with clouds of
bright emission and
dramatic dark dust lanes.
The magnificent emission region, the
Orion Nebula (aka M42), lies at the upper right.
Immediately to its left is a prominent
reflection nebula sometimes called the Running Man.
Pervasive tendrils
of glowing hydrogen gas are easily
traced
throughout the region.
APOD: 2020 November 26 - The Great Turkey Nebula
Explanation:
Surprisingly reminiscent of The Great Nebula in Orion,
The Great Turkey Nebula spans this creative field of view.
Of course
if it were the Orion Nebula it would be our closest
large stellar nursery, found at the edge of a large molecular cloud
a mere 1,500 light-years away.
Also known as M42,
the Orion Nebula is visible to the eye as the middle
"star" in the sword of Orion the Hunter, a constellation
now rising in planet Earth's
evening skies.
Stellar winds from clusters of newborn stars scattered throughout
the Orion Nebula sculpt its ridges and cavities seen in
familiar in telescopic images.
Much larger than any bird you might be cooking,
this Great Turkey Nebula was imagined to be
similar in size to the Orion Nebula,
about 13 light-years across.
Stay safe and well.
APOD: 2020 July 6 - M43: Dust, Gas, and Stars in the Orion Nebula
Explanation:
Unspeakable beauty and unimaginable bedlam can be found together in the Orion Nebula
Arguably the most famous of all astronomy nebulas, the
Great Nebula in Orion is an
immense interstellar
molecular cloud only 1500
light-years away.
In the featured deep image shown in assigned colors, the
part of the nebula's center known as M43 is shown as taken by the
Hubble Space Telescope.
The Great Nebula in Orion can be found with the
unaided eye near the
easily identifiable
belt of three stars in the popular constellation
Orion.
The entire Orion Nebula, including both
M42 and
M43 spans about 40
light years and is located in the same
spiral arm of
our Galaxy as the
Sun.
APOD: 2020 June 9 - Orion over Argentine Mountains
Explanation:
Do you recognize the constellation of Orion?
It may be harder than usual in today's
featured image
because the camera has zoomed in on the center,
and the exposure is long enough to enhance
nebulas beyond what the unaided
human eye can see.
Still, once you become oriented, you can see
Orion's three belt stars
lined up vertically near the image center, and even locate the
familiar Orion Nebula on the upper left.
Famous faint features that are also visible include the dark
Horsehead Nebula indentation near the image center,
and the dusty
Flame Nebula just to its right.
Part of the
Orion-encircling
Barnard's Loop can also be found on the far right.
The image combines multiple
sky-tracking shots of the background in different colors
with a single static foreground exposure taken at twilight -- all
captured
with the same camera and from the same location.
The picturesque scene was captured early last year from mountains in
San Juan,
Argentina.
APOD: 2020 April 12 - The Horsehead Nebula in Infrared from Hubble
Explanation:
While drifting through the cosmos,
a magnificent interstellar dust cloud became sculpted by
stellar winds and radiation to assume a
recognizable shape.
Fittingly named the
Horsehead Nebula, it is embedded in the vast and complex Orion Nebula (M42).
A potentially rewarding but difficult object to
view personally
with a small telescope, the
above gorgeously detailed image was
taken in 2013 in
infrared light
by the orbiting
Hubble Space Telescope
in honor of the 23rd anniversary of
Hubble's launch.
The dark molecular cloud, roughly 1,500
light years distant, is cataloged as Barnard 33 and is seen above primarily because it is backlit by the nearby massive star
Sigma Orionis.
The Horsehead Nebula will slowly shift its
apparent shape over the next few million years and will eventually be destroyed by the
high energy starlight.
APOD: 2020 March 29 - A 212 Hour Exposure of Orion
Explanation:
The constellation of Orion is much more than three stars in a row.
It is a direction in space that is
rich with impressive nebulas.
To better appreciate this well-known swath of sky, an
extremely long exposure was taken over many clear nights in 2013 and 2014.
After 212 hours of camera time and an
additional year of processing, the featured 1400-exposure collage spanning over 40 times the
angular diameter of
the Moon emerged.
Of the many interesting details that have become visible, one that particularly draws the eye is
Barnard's Loop, the bright red circular filament arcing down from the middle.
The Rosette Nebula is not the giant red nebula near the top of the image -- that is a larger but lesser known nebula known as Lambda Orionis.
The Rosette Nebula is visible, though: it is the red and white nebula on the upper left.
The bright orange star just above the frame center is
Betelgeuse, while the bright blue star on the lower right is
Rigel.
Other famous nebulas visible include
the Witch Head Nebula,
the Flame Nebula,
the Fox Fur Nebula, and, if you know just where to look,
the comparatively small Horsehead Nebula.
About those
famous three stars that cross the belt of
Orion the Hunter --
in this busy frame they can be hard to locate, but a
discerning eye will find them just below and to the right of the image center.
APOD: 2019 October 30 - M42: Inside the Orion Nebula
Explanation:
The Great Nebula in Orion,
an immense, nearby
starbirth region,
is probably the most famous of all
astronomical nebulas.
Here, glowing gas
surrounds hot young stars at the edge of an
immense interstellar
molecular cloud only 1500
light-years away.
In the featured deep image in
assigned colors highlighted by
emission in
oxygen and
hydrogen,
wisps and sheets of dust and gas are particularly evident.
The Great Nebula in Orion
can be found with the unaided eye near the
easily identifiable
belt of three stars in the popular constellation
Orion.
In addition to housing a bright
open cluster of stars known as the
Trapezium, the
Orion Nebula contains many stellar nurseries.
These nurseries contain much
hydrogen gas,
hot young stars,
proplyds, and
stellar jets
spewing material at high speeds.
Also known as
M42, the
Orion Nebula spans about 40 light years and is located in the same
spiral arm of
our Galaxy as the
Sun.
APOD: 2019 March 18 - Horsehead and Orion Nebulas
Explanation:
The dark Horsehead Nebula and the glowing
Orion Nebula are contrasting cosmic vistas.
Adrift 1,500
light-years
away in one of the night sky's
most recognizable
constellations,
they appear in opposite corners of the above
stunning two-panel mosaic.
The familiar Horsehead
nebula appears as a dark cloud on the lower left, a small
silhouette
notched against the glow of hydrogen
(alpha) gas,
here tinted orange.
Alnitak is the easternmost star in
Orion's belt and can be found
to the left of the
Horsehead.
Below Alnitak is the
Flame Nebula, with clouds of
bright emission and
dramatic dark dust lanes.
The magnificent emission region, the
Orion Nebula (aka M42), lies at the upper right,
surrounded by the blue glow of reflecting dust.
Immediately to its left is a prominent
reflection nebula sometimes called the Running Man.
Pervasive tendrils
of glowing hydrogen gas are easily
traced
throughout the region.
APOD: 2019 January 2 - The Orion Nebula in Infrared from WISE
Explanation:
The Great Nebula in Orion is an intriguing place.
Visible to the unaided eye, it appears as a small
fuzzy patch in the
constellation of Orion.
But
this image,
an illusory-color four-panel mosaic taken in different bands of
infrared light with the
Earth orbiting
WISE observatory, shows the
Orion Nebula
to be a bustling
neighborhood of recently formed stars,
hot gas, and dark dust.
The power behind much of the
Orion Nebula (M42) is the stars of the
Trapezium star cluster, seen
near the center of the
featured image.
The orange glow surrounding the
bright stars pictured here is their own
starlight reflected
by intricate dust filaments that
cover much of the region.
The current
Orion Nebula cloud complex, which
includes the
Horsehead Nebula,
will slowly disperse over the next 100,000 years.
APOD: 2018 December 12 - M43: Orion Falls
Explanation:
Is there a waterfall in Orion?
No, but some of the dust in M43 appears similar to a
waterfall on Earth.
M43, part of the
Orion Molecular Cloud
Complex, is the often imaged but rarely mentioned neighbor
of the more famous M42.
M42, which includes many bright stars from the
Trapezium cluster, lies above the featured scene.
M43
is itself a star forming region and although laced with filaments of dark dust,
is composed mostly of glowing
hydrogen.
The entire
Orion field, located about 1600
light years away, is inundated with many intricate and
picturesque
filaments of dust.
Opaque to visible light, dark
dust is
created in the outer atmosphere of massive cool stars and expelled by a strong
outer wind of
protons and
electrons.
APOD: 2018 August 5 - Trapezium: At the Heart of Orion
Explanation:
Near the center of this sharp cosmic portrait, at
the heart of the Orion Nebula,
are four hot, massive stars
known as
the Trapezium.
Gathered within a region about 1.5 light-years in radius,
they dominate the core of the dense Orion Nebula Star Cluster.
Ultraviolet ionizing radiation from the
Trapezium stars,
mostly from the brightest star
Theta-1
Orionis C
powers the complex star forming region's entire visible glow.
About three million years old, the Orion Nebula Cluster was
even more compact in its younger years and a
recent dynamical study indicates that
runaway stellar collisions
at an earlier age may have formed a black hole
with more than 100 times the mass of
the Sun.
The presence of a
black hole within the cluster
could explain the observed high velocities of the
Trapezium stars.
The Orion Nebula's distance of some 1,500
light-years would make it the
closest known black hole to planet Earth.
APOD: 2017 November 29 - M42: The Great Orion Nebula
Explanation:
Few astronomical sights excite the imagination like the
nearby stellar nursery known as the Orion Nebula.
The Nebula's glowing gas
surrounds hot young stars at the edge of an immense interstellar
molecular cloud.
Many of the filamentary structures visible in the
featured image are actually
shock waves -
fronts where fast moving material encounters slow moving gas.
The Orion Nebula spans about 40
light years
and is located about 1500 light years away in the
same spiral arm
of our Galaxy as the
Sun.
The Great Nebula in
Orion can be found with the
unaided eye just below and to the left of the easily identifiable
belt of three stars in the popular
constellation Orion.
The featured image,
taken last month, shows a two-hour exposure of the nebula in three colors.
The whole Orion Nebula cloud complex,
which includes the
Horsehead Nebula,
will slowly disperse over the next 100,000 years.
APOD: 2017 March 12 - At the Heart of Orion
Explanation:
Near the center of this sharp cosmic portrait, at the heart of
the
Orion Nebula, are four hot, massive stars
known as
the Trapezium.
Tightly gathered within a region
about 1.5 light-years in radius,
they dominate the core of the dense Orion Nebula Star Cluster.
Ultraviolet ionizing radiation from the Trapezium stars,
mostly from the brightest star
Theta-1
Orionis C
powers the complex star forming region's entire visible glow.
About three million years old, the Orion Nebula Cluster was
even more compact in its younger years and a
dynamical study
indicates that
runaway stellar collisions
at an earlier age may have formed a black hole
with more than 100 times the mass of the Sun.
The presence of a black hole within the cluster
could explain the observed high velocities of the Trapezium stars.
The Orion Nebula's distance of some 1,500 light-years
would make it the closest known black hole to planet Earth.
APOD: 2017 March 8 - Dust, Gas, and Stars in the Orion Nebula
Explanation:
The Great Nebula in Orion,
an immense, nearby
starbirth region,
is probably the most famous of all
astronomical nebulas.
Here, filaments of dark dust and glowing gas
surround hot young stars at the edge of an
immense interstellar
molecular cloud only 1500
light-years away.
In the featured deep image shown in assigned colors,
part of the nebula's center is shown as taken by the
Hubble Space Telescope.
The Great Nebula in Orion can be found with the
unaided eye near the
easily identifiable
belt of three stars in the popular constellation
Orion.
In addition to housing a bright
open cluster of stars known as the
Trapezium, the
Orion Nebula contains many
stellar nurseries.
These nurseries contain much
hydrogen gas, hot young stars,
proplyds, and
stellar jets
spewing material at high speeds.
Also known as
M42 and
M43, the
Orion Nebula spans about 40
light years and is located in the same
spiral arm of
our Galaxy as the
Sun.
APOD: 2016 October 14 - Herschel's Orion
Explanation:
This
dramatic image peers within M42, the Orion Nebula,
the closest large star-forming region.
Using data at infrared wavelengths from the
Herschel
Space Observatory, the false-color composite
explores the natal cosmic cloud
a mere 1,500 light-years distant.
Cold, dense filaments
of dust that
would otherwise be dark at visible wavelengths are shown
in reddish hues.
Light-years long, the filaments weave together
bright spots that correspond to regions of collapsing
protostars.
The brightest bluish area near the top of the frame is warmer
dust heated by the hot Trapezium
cluster stars that also power the nebula's visible glow.
Herschel data has recently indicated
ultraviolet starlight from the hot newborn stars
likely contributes to the creation of
carbon-hydrogen molecules,
basic
building blocks of life.
This Herschel image spans about 3 degrees on the sky.
That's about 80 light-years at the distance of the Orion Nebula.
APOD: 2016 July 18 - The Orion Nebula in Infrared from HAWK I
Explanation:
The deepest infrared image of the Orion Nebula has uncovered a bonanza of previously unknown low-mass stars and -- quite possibly -- free floating planets.
The picturesque
nebula is best known in
visible light where it shows a many
bright stars and bright glowing gas.
Catalogued as
M42, the
Orion
Nebula at a distance of 1300
light years is the closest major star forming region to Earth.
One can
peer into Orion's pervasive dust
in
infrared light, as was done again recently with the sophisticated
HAWK-I camera attached to one of the
European Southern Observatory's
Very Large Telescopes
in the high mountains of
Chile.
High resolution versions of the
featured infrared deep image show many points of light, many of which are surely
brown dwarf stars but some of which are best fit by an unexpectedly high abundance of
free-floating planets.
Understanding
how these low mass objects formed is important to
understanding
star formation generally and may even help humanity to better understand the early years of our Solar System.
APOD: 2016 June 8 - The Horsehead Nebula in Infrared from Hubble
Explanation:
While drifting through the cosmos,
a magnificent interstellar dust cloud became sculpted by
stellar winds and radiation to assume a
recognizable shape.
Fittingly named the
Horsehead Nebula, it is embedded in the vast and complex Orion Nebula (M42).
A potentially rewarding but difficult object to
view personally
with a small telescope, the
above gorgeously detailed image was
taken in 2013 in
infrared light by the orbiting
Hubble Space Telescope
in honor of the 23rd anniversary of
Hubble's launch.
The dark molecular cloud, roughly 1,500
light years distant, is cataloged as Barnard 33 and is seen above primarily because it is backlit by the nearby massive star
Sigma Orionis.
The Horsehead Nebula will slowly shift its
apparent shape over the next few million years and will eventually be destroyed by the
high energy starlight.
APOD: 2016 May 17 - The Orion Nebula in Visible and Infrared
Explanation:
The Great Nebula in Orion is a colorful place.
Visible to the unaided eye, it appears as a small
fuzzy patch in the constellation of Orion.
Long exposure,
multi-wavelength images like this, however, show the
Orion Nebula to be a busy neighborhood of young stars, hot gas, and dark
dust.
This digital composite
features not only three colors of
visible light but four colors of
infrared light taken by
NASA's orbiting
Spitzer Space Telescope as well.
The power behind much of the
Orion Nebula
(M42) is the
Trapezium -
four of the brightest stars in the nebula.
Many of the
filamentary structures visible are actually
shock waves - fronts
where fast moving material encounters slow moving gas.
The Orion Nebula spans about 40 light years and is
located about 1500
light years away in the same
spiral arm of
our Galaxy as the
Sun.
APOD: 2015 December 29 - Dust of the Orion Nebula
Explanation:
What surrounds a hotbed of star formation?
In the case of the
Orion Nebula -- dust.
The
entire Orion field, located about 1600
light years away, is inundated with intricate and
picturesque filaments of dust.
Opaque to visible light,
dust is created in the outer atmosphere of massive
cool stars and expelled by a strong outer
wind of particles.
The Trapezium and other forming
star clusters
are embedded in the nebula.
The intricate filaments of dust surrounding
M42 and
M43 appear brown in the
featured image, while central glowing gas is highlighted in red.
Over the next few million years much of
Orion's dust will be slowly
destroyed by the very stars now being formed, or dispersed into the
Galaxy.
APOD: 2015 November 4 - The Great Orion Nebula M42
Explanation:
The Great Nebula
in Orion, also known as M42, is one of the
most famous nebulae in the sky.
The star forming region's glowing gas clouds and hot young stars
are on the right in this sharp and colorful image that includes the bluish reflection nebulae
NGC 1977 and friends on the left.
Located at the edge of an otherwise invisible
giant molecular
cloud complex,
these eye-catching nebulas represent only a small
fraction of this galactic neighborhood's wealth of
interstellar material.
Within the
well-studied
stellar nursery, astronomers have also
identified
what appear to be numerous infant planetary systems.
The gorgeous skyscape spans nearly two degrees or about 45
light-years
at the Orion Nebula's estimated distance of 1,500 light-years.
APOD: 2015 January 19 - Infrared Orion from WISE
Explanation:
The Great Nebula in Orion is an intriguing place.
Visible to the unaided eye, it appears as a small
fuzzy patch in the
constellation of Orion.
But
this image,
an illusory-color four-panel mosaic taken in different bands of
infrared light with the
Earth orbiting
WISE observatory, shows the
Orion Nebula
to be a bustling
neighborhood of recently formed stars,
hot gas, and dark dust.
The power behind much of the
Orion Nebula (M42) is the stars of the
Trapezium star cluster, seen
near the center of the
above wide field image.
The orange glow surrounding the
bright stars pictured here is their own
starlight reflected
by intricate dust filaments that
cover much of the region.
The current
Orion Nebula cloud complex, which
includes the
Horsehead Nebula,
will slowly disperse over the next 100,000 years.
APOD: 2015 January 2 - At the Heart of Orion
Explanation:
Near the center of this
sharp cosmic portrait, at
the heart of the
Orion Nebula, are four hot, massive stars
known as
the Trapezium.
Tightly gathered within a region about 1.5 light-years in radius,
they dominate the core of the dense Orion Nebula Star Cluster.
Ultraviolet ionizing radiation from the Trapezium stars,
mostly from the brightest star
Theta-1
Orionis C
powers the complex star forming region's entire visible glow.
About three million years old, the Orion Nebula Cluster was
even more compact in its younger years and a
dynamical study
indicates that
runaway stellar collisions
at an earlier age may have formed a black hole
with more than 100 times the mass of the Sun.
The presence of a black hole within the cluster
could explain the observed high velocities of the Trapezium stars.
The Orion Nebula's distance of some 1,500 light-years
would make it the closest known black hole to planet Earth.
APOD: 2014 November 11 - Orion in Gas, Dust, and Stars
Explanation:
The constellation of Orion holds much more than three stars in a row.
A deep exposure shows everything from dark nebulae to star clusters,
all embedded in an extended
patch of
gaseous wisps in the greater
Orion
Molecular
Cloud
Complex.
The brightest three stars
on the far left are indeed the
famous three stars that make up the
belt of Orion.
Just below Alnitak, the lowest of the
three belt stars, is the
Flame Nebula, glowing with
excited hydrogen gas and immersed in filaments of dark brown dust.
Below and left of the frame center and just to the right of
Alnitak lies the
Horsehead Nebula, a
dark indentation of
dense dust that has perhaps the most recognized nebular shapes on the sky.
On the upper right lies
M42, the
Orion Nebula,
an energetic caldron of tumultuous gas,
visible to the unaided eye,
that is giving birth to a
new open cluster of stars.
Immediately to the left of
M42
is a prominent bluish reflection nebula sometimes called the
Running Man that houses many bright
blue stars.
The featured image covers an area with objects that are roughly 1,500
light years away and spans about 75 light years.
APOD: 2014 April 8 - M42: Inside the Orion Nebula
Explanation:
The Great Nebula in Orion,
an immense, nearby
starbirth region,
is probably the most famous of all
astronomical nebulas.
Here, glowing gas surrounds hot young stars at the edge of an
immense interstellar
molecular cloud only 1500
light-years away.
In the above deep image composite in assigned colors taken by the
Hubble Space Telescope
wisps and sheets of dust and gas are particularly evident.
The Great Nebula in Orion can be found with the
unaided eye near the
easily identifiable
belt of three stars in the popular constellation
Orion.
In addition to housing a bright
open cluster of stars known as the
Trapezium, the
Orion Nebula contains many
stellar nurseries.
These nurseries contain much
hydrogen gas, hot young stars,
proplyds, and
stellar jets
spewing material at high speeds.
Also known as
M42, the
Orion Nebula spans about 40 light years and is located in the same
spiral arm of
our Galaxy as the
Sun.
APOD: 2014 March 25 - Orion Nebula in Surrounding Dust
Explanation:
What surrounds a hotbed of star formation?
In the case of the
Orion Nebula -- dust.
The
entire Orion field, located about 1600
light years away, is inundated with intricate and
picturesque filaments of dust.
Opaque to visible light,
dust is created in the outer atmosphere of massive
cool stars and expelled by a strong outer wind of particles.
The Trapezium and other forming star clusters are embedded in the nebula.
The intricate filaments of dust surrounding
M42 and
M43 appear gray in the
above image, while central glowing gas is highlighted in brown and blue.
Over the next few million years much of
Orion's dust will be slowly destroyed by the very stars now being formed, or dispersed into the Galaxy.
APOD: 2014 January 15 - Spitzer's Orion
Explanation:
Few cosmic vistas excite the imagination like
the Orion Nebula,
an immense stellar nursery some 1,500 light-years away.
This stunning false-color
view spans about 40 light-years across the region,
constructed using
infrared data
from the Spitzer Space Telescope.
Compared to its
visual wavelength appearance,
the brightest portion of
the nebula is likewise centered on Orion's young, massive, hot stars,
known as the Trapezium Cluster.
But the infrared image also detects the nebula's many protostars, still
in the process of formation, seen here in red hues.
In fact, red spots along the dark dusty filament to the left
of the bright cluster include the protostar cataloged as HOPS 68,
recently
found to have
crystals of the silicate mineral olivine within its
protostellar envelope.
APOD: 2013 October 29 - Horsehead and Orion Nebulas
Explanation:
The dark Horsehead Nebula and the glowing
Orion Nebula are contrasting cosmic vistas.
Adrift 1,500 light-years away in one of
the night sky's
most recognizable
constellations,
they appear in opposite corners of the above
stunning mosaic.
The familiar Horsehead
nebula appears as a dark cloud, a small silhouette
notched against the long red glow at the lower left.
Alnitak is the easternmost star in
Orion's belt and is seen as the
brightest star to the left of the
Horsehead.
Below Alnitak is the
Flame Nebula, with clouds of
bright emission and
dramatic dark dust lanes.
The magnificent emission region, the
Orion Nebula (aka M42), lies at the upper right.
Immediately to its left is a prominent
reflection nebula sometimes called the Running Man.
Pervasive tendrils
of glowing hydrogen gas are easily
traced
throughout the region.
APOD: 2013 June 4 - Orion Nebula in Oxygen, Hydrogen, and Sulfur
Explanation:
Few astronomical sights excite the imagination like the
nearby stellar nursery known as the Orion Nebula.
The Nebula's glowing gas
surrounds hot young stars at the edge of an immense interstellar
molecular cloud.
Many of the filamentary structures visible in the
above image are actually
shock waves -
fronts where fast moving material encounters slow moving gas.
The Orion Nebula spans about 40
light years
and is located about 1500 light years away in the
same spiral arm
of our Galaxy as the Sun.
The Great Nebula in
Orion can be found with the
unaided eye just below and to the left of the easily identifiable
belt of three stars in the popular constellation Orion.
The above image shows the nebula in three colors specifically emitted by
hydrogen,
oxygen, and
sulfur gas.
The whole Orion Nebula cloud complex,
which includes the
Horsehead Nebula,
will slowly disperse over the next 100,000 years.
APOD: 2013 April 22 - The Horsehead Nebula in Infrared from Hubble
Explanation:
While drifting through the cosmos,
a magnificent interstellar dust cloud became sculpted by
stellar winds and radiation to assume a
recognizable shape.
Fittingly named the
Horsehead Nebula, it is embedded in the vast and complex Orion Nebula (M42).
A potentially rewarding but difficult object to
view personally
with a small telescope, the
above gorgeously detailed image was
recently taken in
infrared light by the orbiting
Hubble Space Telescope
in honor of the 23rd anniversary of
Hubble's launch.
The dark molecular cloud, roughly 1,500
light years distant, is cataloged as Barnard 33 and is seen above primarily because it is backlit by the nearby massive star
Sigma Orionis.
The Horsehead Nebula will slowly shift its
apparent shape over the next few million years and will eventually be destroyed by the
high energy starlight.
APOD: 2013 March 20 - M42: Inside the Orion Nebula
Explanation:
The Great Nebula in Orion,
an immense, nearby
starbirth region,
is probably the most famous of all
astronomical nebulas.
Here, glowing gas surrounds hot young stars at the edge of an
immense interstellar
molecular cloud only 1500
light-years away.
In the above deep image in
assigned colors highlighted by
emission in
oxygen and
hydrogen,
wisps and sheets of dust and gas are particularly evident.
The Great Nebula in Orion can be found with the
unaided eye near the
easily identifiable
belt of three stars in the popular constellation
Orion.
In addition to housing a bright
open cluster of stars known as the
Trapezium, the
Orion Nebula contains many
stellar nurseries.
These nurseries contain much
hydrogen gas, hot young stars,
proplyds, and
stellar jets
spewing material at high speeds.
Also known as
M42, the
Orion Nebula spans about 40 light years and is located in the same
spiral arm of
our Galaxy as the
Sun.
APOD: 2013 February 13 - Infrared Orion from WISE
Explanation:
The Great Nebula in Orion is a intriguing place.
Visible to the unaided eye, it appears as a small
fuzzy patch in the
constellation of Orion.
But
this image, an illusory-color composite of four colors of
infrared light taken with the
Earth orbiting
WISE observatory, shows the
Orion Nebula
to be a bustling neighborhood or recently formed stars,
hot gas, and dark dust.
The power behind much of the
Orion Nebula (M42) is the stars of the
Trapezium star cluster, seen
near the center of the
above wide field image.
The eerie green glow surrounding the
bright stars pictured here is their own
starlight reflected
by intricate dust filaments that
cover much of the region.
The current
Orion Nebula cloud complex, which
includes the
Horsehead Nebula,
will slowly disperse over the next 100,000 years.
APOD: 2012 October 6 - At the Heart of Orion
Explanation:
Near the center of this sharp cosmic portrait, at
the heart of the Orion Nebula,
are four hot, massive stars
known as
the Trapezium.
Gathered within a region about 1.5 light-years in radius,
they dominate the core of the dense Orion Nebula Star Cluster.
Ultraviolet ionizing radiation from the Trapezium stars,
mostly from the brightest star
Theta-1
Orionis C
powers the complex star forming region's entire visible glow.
About three million years old, the Orion Nebula Cluster was
even more compact in its younger years and a
recent dynamical study
indicates that
runaway stellar collisions
at an earlier age may have formed a black hole
with more than 100 times the mass of the Sun.
The presence of a black hole within the cluster
could explain the observed high velocities of the Trapezium stars.
The Orion Nebula's distance of some 1500 light-years
would make it the closest known black hole to planet Earth.
APOD: 2012 July 15 - Orion Nebula: The Hubble View
Explanation:
Few cosmic vistas excite the imagination like
the Orion Nebula.
Also known as
M42,
the nebula's glowing gas surrounds hot young stars at the edge of an
immense interstellar
molecular cloud only 1,500 light-years away.
The Orion Nebula offers one of the best opportunities
to study how stars are born partly because it is the nearest large
star-forming region,
but also because the nebula's
energetic stars have
blown away
obscuring gas and dust clouds that would otherwise block
our view - providing an intimate look at a
range of ongoing stages
of
starbirth and evolution.
This detailed image of the
Orion Nebula is the sharpest ever, constructed using data from the
Hubble Space Telescope's
Advanced Camera for Surveys and the European Southern Observatory's
La Silla 2.2 meter telescope.
The mosaic
contains a billion pixels at full resolution
and reveals about 3,000 stars.
APOD: 2012 February 12 - Orion in Gas, Dust, and Stars
Explanation:
The constellation of Orion holds much more than three stars in a row.
A deep exposure shows everything from dark nebula to star clusters,
all embedded in an extended
patch of
gaseous wisps in the greater
Orion
Molecular
Cloud
Complex.
The brightest three stars
on the far left are indeed the
famous three stars that make up the
belt of Orion.
Just below Alnitak, the lowest of the
three belt stars, is the
Flame Nebula, glowing with
excited hydrogen gas and immersed in filaments of dark brown dust.
Below the frame center and just to the right of
Alnitak lies the
Horsehead Nebula, a
dark indentation of
dense dust that has perhaps the most recognized nebular shapes on the sky.
On the upper right lies
M42, the
Orion Nebula,
an energetic caldron of tumultuous gas,
visible to the unaided eye,
that is giving birth to a
new open cluster of stars.
Immediately to the left of
M42
is a prominent bluish reflection nebula sometimes called the
Running Man that houses many bright
blue stars.
The above image, a digitally stitched composite taken over several nights, covers an area with objects that are roughly 1,500
light years away and spans about 75 light years.
APOD: 2012 February 6 - Dust of the Orion Nebula
Explanation:
What surrounds a hotbed of star formation?
In the case of the
Orion Nebula -- dust.
The
entire Orion field, located about 1600
light years away, is inundated with intricate and
picturesque filaments of dust.
Opaque to visible light,
dust is created in the outer atmosphere of massive
cool stars and expelled by a strong outer wind of particles.
The Trapezium and other forming star clusters are embedded in the nebula.
The intricate filaments of dust surrounding
M42 and
M43 appear brown in the
above image, while central glowing gas is highlighted in red.
Over the next few million years much of
Orion's dust will be slowly destroyed by the very stars now being formed, or dispersed into the Galaxy.
APOD: 2011 September 17 - Spitzer's Orion
Explanation:
Few cosmic vistas excite the imagination like
the Orion Nebula,
an immense stellar nursery some 1,500 light-years away.
This stunning false-color
view spans about 40 light-years across the region,
constructed using
infrared data
from the Spitzer Space Telescope.
Compared to its
visual wavelength appearance,
the brightest portion of
the nebula is likewise centered on Orion's young, massive, hot stars,
known as the
Trapezium
Cluster.
But the infrared image also detects the nebula's many protostars, still
in the process of formation, seen here in red hues.
In fact, red spots along the dark dusty filament to the left
of the bright cluster include the protostar cataloged as HOPS 68, recently
found to have
crystals of the silicate mineral olivine within its
protostellar envelope.
APOD: 2011 September 13 - Great Orion Nebulae
Explanation:
The Great Nebula
in Orion, also known as M42, is one of the
most famous nebulas in the sky.
The star forming region's glowing gas clouds and hot young stars
are on the right in this sharp and colorful image that includes the smaller
nebula M43
near center and dusty, bluish reflection nebulae
NGC 1977 and friends on the left.
Located at the edge of an otherwise invisible
giant molecular
cloud complex,
these eye-catching nebulae represent only a small
fraction of this galactic neighborhood's wealth of
interstellar material.
Within the well-studied stellar nursery, astronomers have also
identified what appear to be numerous
infant planetary systems.
The gorgeous skyscape spans nearly two degrees or about 45
light-years
at the Orion Nebula's estimated distance of 1,500 light-years.
APOD: 2011 February 21 - Milky Way Over Switzerland
Explanation:
What's visible in the night sky during this time of year?
To help illustrate the answer, a beautiful land, cloud, and skyscape was captured earlier this month over
Neuchâtel,
Switzerland.
Visible in the foreground were the snow covered cliffs of the amphitheater shaped
Creux du Van, as well as distant trees, and town-lit clouds.
Visible in the night sky (at midnight) were galaxies including the
long arch of the central band of our
Milky Way Galaxy, the
Andromeda galaxy (M31), and the
Triangulum galaxy
(M33).
Star clusters visible included NGC 752,
M34,
M35,
M41,
the double cluster, and
the Beehive (M44).
Nebulas visible included the Orion Nebula
(M42),
NGC 7822,
IC 1396, the
Rosette Nebula,
the Flaming Star Nebula, the
California Nebula, the
Heart and
Soul Nebulas, and the
Pacman Nebula.
Rolling your cursor over the
above image will bring up labels for
all of these.
But the above
wide angle sky image captured even more sky wonders.
What other nebulas
can you find in the above image?
APOD: 2010 October 5 - Horsehead and Orion Nebulas
Explanation:
The dark Horsehead Nebula and the glowing
Orion Nebula are contrasting cosmic vistas.
Adrift 1,500 light-years away in one of
the night sky's
most recognizable
constellations,
they appear in opposite corners of the above
stunning mosaic.
The familiar Horsehead
nebula appears as a dark cloud, a small silhouette
notched against the long red glow at the lower left.
Alnitak is the easternmost star in
Orion's belt and is seen as the
brightest star to the left of the
Horsehead.
Below Alnitak is the
Flame Nebula, with clouds of
bright emission and
dramatic dark dust lanes.
The magnificent emission region, the
Orion Nebula (aka M42), lies at the upper right.
Immediately to its left is a prominent bluish
reflection nebula sometimes called the Running Man.
Pervasive tendrils
of glowing hydrogen gas are easily
traced
throughout the region.
APOD: 2009 September 29 - Orion in Gas, Dust, and Stars
Explanation:
The constellation of Orion holds much more than three stars in a row.
A deep exposure shows everything from dark nebula to star clusters,
all imbedded in an extended
patch of
gaseous wisps in the greater
Orion
Molecular
Cloud
Complex.
The brightest three stars
on the far left are indeed the
famous three stars that make up the
belt of Orion.
Just below Alnitak, the lowest of the
three belt stars, is the
Flame Nebula, glowing with
excited hydrogen gas and immersed in filaments of dark brown dust.
Below the frame center and just to the right of
Alnitak lies the
Horsehead Nebula, a
dark indentation of
dense dust that has perhaps the most recognized nebular shapes on the sky.
On the upper right lies
M42, the
Orion Nebula,
an energetic caldron of tumultuous gas,
visible to the unaided eye,
that is giving birth to a
new open cluster of stars.
Immediately to the left of
M42
is a prominent bluish reflection nebula sometimes called the
Running Man that houses many bright blue stars.
The
above image, a digitally stitched composite taken over several nights, covers an area with objects that are roughly 1,500
light years away and spans about 75 light years.
APOD: 2009 August 26 - Classic Orion Nebulae
Explanation:
The Great Nebula
in Orion, also known as M42, is one of the
most famous nebulae in the sky.
The star forming region's glowing gas clouds and hot young stars
are near the center of this colorful
deep
sky image that includes the smaller
nebula M43
and dusty, bluish reflection nebulae
NGC 1977 and friends on the left.
Located at the edge of an otherwise invisible giant molecular
cloud
complex, these eye-catching nebulae represent only a small
fraction of this galactic neighborhood's wealth of
interstellar
material.
Captured with very modest equipment, the gorgeous skyscape was
awarded Best in Show at the
2009
Starfest International Salon of Astrophotography.
Judges commented that the detail and shading were exquisite
in this version of a classic astronomical image.
The field spans nearly 3 degrees or about 75 light-years
at the Orion Nebula's estimated distance of 1,500 light-years.
APOD: 2009 March 10 - Horsehead and Orion Nebulae
Explanation:
Adrift 1,500 light-years away in one of
the night sky's
most recognizable
constellations, the glowing
Orion Nebula and the dark
Horsehead Nebula are contrasting
cosmic vistas.
They appear in opposite corners of this
stunning mosaic taken with a digital camera attached to a small telescope.
The magnificent emission region, the
Orion Nebula (aka M42), lies at the upper right of the picture.
Immediately to its left is a prominent bluish
reflection nebula sometimes called
the Running Man.
The Horsehead
nebula appears as a dark cloud, a small silhouette
notched against the long red glow at the lower left.
Alnitak is the easternmost star in
Orion's belt and is seen as the
brightest star to the left of the
Horsehead.
Below Alnitak is the
Flame Nebula, with clouds of
bright emission and dramatic dark dust lanes.
Pervasive tendrils
of glowing hydrogen gas are easily
traced
throughout the region in
this deep field image of the same region.
APOD: 2009 February 22 - Orion Nebula: The Hubble View
Explanation:
Few cosmic vistas excite the imagination like
the Orion Nebula.
Also known as
M42,
the nebula's glowing gas surrounds hot young stars at the edge of an
immense interstellar
molecular cloud only 1,500 light-years away.
The Orion Nebula offers one of the best opportunities
to study how stars are born partly because it is the nearest large
star-forming region,
but also because the nebula's
energetic stars have
blown away
obscuring gas and dust clouds that would otherwise block
our view - providing an intimate look at a
range of ongoing stages
of
starbirth and evolution.
This detailed image of the
Orion Nebula is the sharpest ever, constructed using data from the
Hubble Space Telescope's
Advanced Camera for Surveys and the European Southern Observatory's
La Silla 2.2 meter telescope.
The mosaic
contains a billion pixels at full resolution
and reveals about 3,000 stars.
APOD: 2008 October 23 - Great Orion Nebulae
Explanation:
The Great Nebula
in Orion, also known as M42, is one of the
most famous nebulae in the sky.
The star forming region's glowing gas clouds and hot young stars
are on the right in this sharp and colorful
two frame mosaic
that includes the smaller
nebula M43
near center and dusty, bluish reflection nebulae
NGC 1977 and friends on the left.
Located at the edge of an otherwise invisible giant molecular
cloud complex,
these eye-catching nebulae represent only a small
fraction of this galactic neighborhood's wealth of
interstellar material.
Within the well-studied stellar nursery, astronomers have also
identified what appear to be numerous
infant solar systems.
The gorgeous skyscape spans nearly two degrees or about 45 light-years
at the Orion Nebula's estimated distance of 1,500 light-years.
APOD: 2008 April 8 - Southern Orion: From Belt to Witch
Explanation:
Do you recognize the belt of Orion in this image?
The familiar trio of stars,
visible to the unaided eye,
can be found across the upper left.
Otherwise, the southern part of the constellation Orion has taken
on a new look in
this unusually deep and wide view
First note that the lower left belt star,
Alnitak,
is the easternmost star in Orion's belt.
Left of Alnitak is the Flame Nebula,
with clouds of bright emission and dramatic dark dust lanes.
Directly below
Alnitak,
a close inspection will reveal the
Horsehead Nebula.
Farther right and below is the Orion Nebula,
M42,
itself visible to the unaided eye.
The brightest star in the frame, near the bottom right, is
Rigel.
A bright blue star, Rigel illuminates the ominously shaped dust patch known as the
Witch Head Nebula, visible as the
blue reflection nebula near the
lower right corner.
Finally, appearing as a vast red ring and encompassing the entire region, is
Barnard's Loop.
Humans
could see this entire menagerie, unaided, were their eyes
about 10,000 times more sensitive.
APOD: 2007 March 26 - Bullet Pillars in Orion
Explanation:
Why are bullets of gas shooting out of the Orion Nebula?
Nobody is yet sure.
First discovered in 1983, each bullet is actually about the size of
our Solar System, and
moving at about 400 km/sec from a central source dubbed IRc2.
The age of the bullets, which can be found from their speed and distance from
IRc2, is very young -- typically less than 1,000 years.
As the
bullets rip through the interior of the
Orion Nebula,
a small percentage of iron gas causes the tip of each bullet to glow blue,
while each bullet leaves a tubular pillar that glows by the light of heated hydrogen gas.
Pictured above, the Orion bullets were captured in unprecedented detail by the adaptive optics technology of the Gemini North telescope.
M42, the Orion Nebula,
is the closest major star forming region to us and filled with changing
dust, gas, and bright stars.
The Orion Nebula, is located about 1,500
light years away and
can be seen with the unaided eye toward the
constellation of Orion.
APOD: 2007 January 6 - The Orion Deep Field
Explanation:
Adrift 1,500 light-years away in one of
the night sky's most recognizable
constellations, the glowing
Orion Nebula and the dark
Horsehead Nebula are contrasting
cosmic vistas.
But even fainter filaments of glowing gas are easily traced
throughout the region in
this
stunning composite image
that includes exposures filtered to record emission
from hydrogen atoms.
The view reveals extensive
nebulosities associated with
the giant Orion Molecular
Cloud
complex, itself hundreds of light-years across.
A magnificent emission region, the
Orion
Nebula (aka M42) lies at the
upper right of the picture.
Immediately to its left are a cluster of prominent bluish
reflection nebulae sometimes called
the Running Man.
The Horsehead
nebula appears as a dark cloud, a small silhouette
notched against the long red glow left of center.
Alnitak is the easternmost star in Orion's belt and
the brightest star to the left of the Horsehead.
Below Alnitak is the
Flame Nebula, with clouds of
bright emission and dramatic dark dust lanes.
Completing the trio of Orion's belt
stars, bluish Alnilam and Mintaka form a line with Alnitak,
extending to the upper left.
APOD: 2006 November 20 - M42: Wisps of the Orion Nebula
Explanation:
The Great Nebula in Orion, an immense, nearby
starbirth region,
is probably the most famous of all
astronomical nebulas.
Here, glowing gas surrounds hot young stars at the edge of an
immense interstellar
molecular cloud only 1500
light-years away.
In the above deep image, faint wisps and sheets of
dust and gas are particularly evident.
The Great Nebula in Orion can be found with the
unaided eye just below and to the left of the
easily identifiable
belt of three stars in the popular constellation Orion.
In addition to housing a bright
open cluster of stars known as the
Trapezium, the
Orion Nebula contains many
stellar nurseries.
These nurseries contain
hydrogen gas, hot young stars,
proplyds, and
stellar jets
spewing material at high speeds.
Also known as
M42, the
Orion Nebula spans about 40 light years and is located in the same
spiral arm of
our Galaxy as the
Sun.
APOD: 2006 October 15 - An Orion Deep Field
Explanation:
Adrift 1,500 light-years away in one of
the night sky's
most recognizable
constellations, the glowing
Orion Nebula and the dark
Horsehead Nebula are contrasting
cosmic vistas.
They both appear in this stunning composite digital image
assembled from over 20 hours of data that includes exposures
filtered to record emission from hydrogen
atoms.
The view reveals extensive
nebulosities associated with
the giant Orion Molecular
Cloud
complex, itself hundreds of light-years across.
The magnificent emission region, the
Orion
Nebula (aka M42), lies at the
upper right of the picture.
Immediately to its left are a cluster of
of prominent bluish
reflection nebulae sometimes called
the Running Man.
The Horsehead
nebula appears as a dark cloud, a small silhouette
notched against the long red glow at the lower left.
Alnitak is the easternmost star in Orion's belt and
is seen as the brightest star to the left of the Horsehead.
Below Alnitak is the
Flame Nebula, with clouds of
bright emission and dramatic dark dust lanes.
Fainter tendrils of glowing hydrogen gas are easily traced
throughout the region in
this
Orion deep field.
APOD: 2006 August 18 - Spitzer's Orion
Explanation:
Few cosmic vistas excite the imagination like
the Orion Nebula,
an immense stellar nursery some 1,500 light-years away.
Also known as M42, the nebula is
visible to the unaided eye,
but this
stunning infrared view from the
Spitzer Space
Telescope
penetrates the turbulent cosmic gas and
dust clouds to
explore
the region in unprecedented detail.
At full resolution, the remarkable image data yields
a census of new stars and potential solar systems.
About 2,300 young stars surrounded by
planet-forming disks
were detected based on the
infrared glow of their warm dust,
along with about 200 stellar
embryos,
stars too young to have developed disks.
This 0.8 by 1.4 degree false-color image is
about 20 light-years wide at the distance of the
Orion
Nebula.
APOD: 2006 January 20 - LL Ori and the Orion Nebula
Explanation:
This esthetic close-up
of cosmic clouds and stellar winds
features LL Orionis, interacting with the
Orion Nebula flow.
Adrift in Orion's
stellar nursery
and still in its formative years,
variable star LL Orionis produces a wind more
energetic than
the wind from our own
middle-aged Sun.
As the fast stellar wind runs into slow moving gas a shock front is
formed, analogous to the
bow
wave of a boat moving through water or
a plane traveling at supersonic speed.
The small, arcing, graceful structure just above and left of
center is LL Ori's cosmic
bow shock, measuring about half a light-year across.
The slower gas is flowing away from the Orion Nebula's hot central star
cluster, the Trapezium, located off the upper left corner
of the picture.
In three
dimensions, LL Ori's wrap-around shock front is shaped like a
bowl that appears brightest when viewed along the "bottom" edge.
The beautiful picture is part of a
large mosaic view of
the complex
stellar nursery in Orion, filled with a myriad of
fluid
shapes associated with
star formation.
APOD: 2006 January 19 - Orion Nebula, The Hubble View
Explanation:
Few cosmic vistas excite the imagination like
the Orion Nebula.
Also known as
M42,
the nebula's glowing gas surrounds hot young stars at the edge of an
immense interstellar molecular cloud only 1,500 light-years away.
The Orion Nebula offers one of the best opportunities
to study how stars are born partly because it is the nearest large
star-forming region, but also because the nebula's
energetic stars have
blown away
obscuring gas and dust clouds that
would otherwise block
our view - providing an intimate look at a
range of ongoing stages
of
starbirth and evolution.
This detailed image of the
Orion Nebula is the sharpest ever, constructed using data from
the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys
and the European Southern Observatory's
La Silla 2.2 meter telescope.
The mosaic
contains a billion pixels at full resolution
and reveals about 3,000 stars.
In apparent size, the picture is as large as the Full Moon.
At the distance of M42 it spans thirteen light-years.
APOD: 2005 September 18 - M42: Wisps of the Orion Nebula
Explanation:
The Great Nebula in Orion, an immense, nearby
starbirth region,
is probably the most famous of all
astronomical nebulas.
Here, glowing gas surrounds hot young stars at the edge of an
immense interstellar
molecular cloud only 1500
light-years away.
In the above deep image, faint wisps and sheets of
dust and gas are particularly evident.
The Great Nebula in Orion can be found with the
unaided eye just below and to the left of the
easily identifiable
belt of three stars in the popular constellation
Orion.
In addition to housing a bright
open cluster of stars known as the
Trapezium, the
Orion Nebula contains many
stellar nurseries.
These nurseries contain
hydrogen gas, hot young stars,
proplyds, and
stellar jets
spewing material at high speeds.
Also known as
M42, the
Orion Nebula spans about 40 light years and is located in the same
spiral arm of
our Galaxy as the
Sun.
APOD: 2005 July 10 - In the Center of the Trapezium
Explanation:
Start with the constellation of Orion.
Near Orion's belt is a fuzzy area known as the
Great Nebula of Orion or
M42.
In this nebula is a bright
star cluster known as the
Trapezium, shown above.
New stellar systems are forming there in gigantic globs of gas and
dust known as Proplyds.
Looking closely at the
above picture also reveals
that gas and dust surrounding some of the
dimmer stars
appears to form structures that point away from the
brighter stars.
The above false color image was made by combining
several exposures from the orbiting
Hubble Space
Telescope.
APOD: 2004 September 27 - The Great Nebula in Orion
Explanation:
The Great Nebula in Orion is a colorful place.
Visible to the unaided eye, it appears as a small
fuzzy patch in the constellation of Orion.
Long exposure, digitally sharpened images like this, however, show the
Orion Nebula to be a busy neighborhood of young stars, hot gas, and dark
dust.
The power behind much of the
Orion Nebula
(M42) is the
Trapezium -
four of the brightest stars in the nebula.
Many of the
filamentary structures visible are actually
shock waves - fronts
where fast moving material encounters slow moving gas.
The Orion Nebula spans about 40 light years and is
located about 1500
light years away in the same
spiral arm of
our Galaxy as the
Sun.
APOD: 2004 July 13 - Orion Nebula in Oxygen, Hydrogen, and Sulfur
Explanation:
The Great Nebula in Orion, an
immense, nearby starbirth region,
is arguably the most famous of all astronomical nebulae.
The
Orion Nebula,
also known as M42, is
shown above through
ultraviolet
and blue filters augmented with three exact colors specifically emitted by
hydrogen,
oxygen, and
sulfur.
In addition to housing a bright open cluster of stars known as the
Trapezium, the
Orion Nebula contains many
stellar nurseries.
These nurseries contain glowing gas, hot young stars,
proplyds, and
stellar jets spewing material at high speeds.
Many of the filamentary structures visible in
this image are actually
shock waves - fronts where fast moving material encounters slow moving gas.
The Orion Nebula spans about 40 light years and is located about 1500 light years away in the same
spiral arm of our Galaxy as the Sun.
APOD: 2004 March 15 - The Orion Nebula from CFHT
Explanation:
Few astronomical sights excite the imagination like the
nearby stellar nursery known as the
Orion Nebula.
The Nebula's glowing gas surrounds hot young stars at
the edge of an immense interstellar
molecular cloud only 1500 light-years away.
The Great Nebula in Orion can be
found with the unaided eye just below and to the left of the
easily identifiable
belt of three stars in the popular constellation Orion.
The above image from the
3.6-meter Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope atop a
dormant volcano in Hawaii brings out
Orion's detail in spectacular fashion.
Buried in the complex nebulosity are the bright stars of the
Trapezium in
Orion's heart, the sweeping lanes of
dark dust that cross the center,
the pervasive red glowing hydrogen gas,
and the
blue tinted dust
that reflects the light of newborn stars.
The whole Orion Nebula cloud complex, which includes the
Horsehead Nebula,
will slowly disperse over the next 100,000 years.
APOD: 2004 January 15 - An Orion Deep Field
Explanation:
Adrift 1,500 light-years away in one of
the night sky's
most recognizable
constellations, the glowing
Orion Nebula and the dark
Horsehead Nebula are contrasting
cosmic vistas.
They both appear in this stunning composite digital image
assembled from over 20 hours of data that includes exposures
filtered to record emission from hydrogen
atoms.
The view reveals extensive
nebulosities associated with
the giant Orion Molecular
Cloud
complex, itself hundreds of light-years across.
The magnificent emission region, the
Orion
Nebula (aka M42), lies at the
upper right of the picture.
Immediately to its left are a cluster of
of prominent bluish
reflection nebulae sometimes called
the Running Man.
The Horsehead
nebula appears as a dark cloud, a small silhouette
notched against the long red glow at the lower left.
Alnitak is the easternmost star in Orion's belt and
is seen as the brightest star to the left of the Horsehead.
Below Alnitak is the
Flame Nebula, with clouds of
bright emission and dramatic dark dust lanes.
Fainter tendrils of glowing hydrogen gas are easily traced
throughout the region in
this
Orion deep field.
APOD: 2003 April 4 - Clusters and Nebulae of the Hexagon
Explanation:
At first, the bright stars of the large
asterism
known as the (northern)
Winter Hexagon might be hard to pick out in this gorgeous
deep sky mosaic from December 2002.
But placing your cursor over the picture will reveal the hexagon's
outlines and the bright clusters and nebulae along
a stunning portion of
the Milky Way
opposite the
galactic center.
The celestial highlights include
M42
(aka the Great Nebula of Orion),
Orion's Horsehead nebula,
the Rosette and
Cone nebulae, and nearby star clusters
M45 (Pleiades) and Gemini's own
M35.
For now, this hexagon is sinking low in western
evening skies.
APOD: 2003 March 4 - In the Center of the Lagoon Nebula
Explanation:
The center of the Lagoon Nebula is busy with the
awesome spectacle of star formation.
Visible in the lower left, at least two long funnel-shaped clouds,
each roughly half a light-year long, have been formed by extreme
stellar winds
and intense energetic starlight.
The tremendously bright nearby star,
Hershel 36, lights the area.
Vast walls of dust
hide and redden other hot young stars.
As energy from these stars pours into the
cool dust and gas,
large temperature differences in adjoining regions
can be created generating
shearing winds which may cause the funnels.
This picture, spanning about 5 light years, was taken in 1995 by the
orbiting Hubble Space Telescope.
The
Lagoon Nebula, also known as
M8, lies about 5000
light years distant toward the
constellation of
Sagittarius.
APOD: 2003 March 2 - In the Center of the Trapezium
Explanation:
Start with the constellation of
Orion.
Near Orion's belt is a fuzzy area known as the
Great Nebula of Orion or
M42.
In this nebula is a bright
star cluster known as the
Trapezium, shown above.
New stellar systems are forming there in gigantic globs of gas and
dust known as
Proplyds.
Looking closely at the above picture also reveals
that gas and dust surrounding some of the
dimmer stars
appears to form structures that point away from the
brighter stars.
The above false color image was made by combining
several exposures from the orbiting
Hubble Space
Telescope.
APOD: 2003 February 25 - M42: Wisps of the Orion Nebula
Explanation:
The Great Nebula in Orion, an immense, nearby
starbirth region,
is probably the most famous of all
astronomical nebulas.
Here, glowing gas surrounds hot young stars at the edge of an
immense interstellar
molecular cloud only 1500
light-years away.
In the above deep image, faint wisps and sheets of
dust and gas are particularly evident.
The Great Nebula in Orion can be found with the
unaided eye just below and to the left of the
easily identifiable
belt of three stars in the popular constellation
Orion.
In addition to housing a bright
open cluster of stars known as the
Trapezium, the
Orion Nebula contains many
stellar nurseries.
These nurseries contain
hydrogen gas, hot young stars,
proplyds, and
stellar jets
spewing material at high speeds.
Also known as
M42, the
Orion Nebula spans about 40 light years and is located in the same
spiral arm of
our Galaxy as the
Sun.
APOD: 2002 December 20 - Colorful Clouds of Orion
Explanation:
Revisiting one of the most
famous nebulae in
planet Earth's night sky,
astrophotographer
Robert Gendler has constructed this stunning,
color-enhanced mosaic
of the region surrounding the
Great
Nebula in Orion.
As seen here, the
clouds of Orion are dominated by the
reddish emission nebula M42
near the bottom of the image,
with blue reflection nebulae, including
NGC 1977, near the top.
Strewn with dust lanes and dark nebulae,
the striking cosmic apparitions
surrounding Orion's
stellar nurseries are about 1,500 light-years away and are
themselves several light-years across.
Located at the edge of a giant molecular
cloud complex
spanning hundreds of light-years, these nebulae represent only a small,
but very visible(!), fraction of this region's wealth of
interstellar
material.
Within these colorful clouds of Orion,
astronomers have also
identified what appear to be numerous
infant solar systems.
APOD: 2002 May 30 - Orion Nebulosities
Explanation:
Adrift 1,500 light-years away in one of the night sky's
most recognizable
constellations, the glowing
Orion Nebula and the dark
Horsehead Nebula are contrasting
cosmic vistas.
They both appear in this stunning composite color photograph along with
other nebulosities as part
of the giant Orion Molecular
Cloud
complex, itself hundreds of light-years across.
The magnificent
Orion
Nebula (aka M42) lies at the
bottom of the image.
This emission nebula's
bright central regions were
captured on fast film in a relatively short 30 second exposure.
Above M42
are a cluster of prominent bluish
reflection nebulae
and fainter reddish emission nebulae recorded in additional exposures
lasting up to 40 minutes.
The Horsehead
appears as a dark nebula, a small silhouette
notched against the long red glow at the upper left.
Alnitak is the easternmost star in Orion's belt and
is seen as the brightest star above the Horsehead.
Immediately to Alnitak's left is the
Flame Nebula, with clouds of
bright emission and dramatic dark dust lanes.
The telescopic
exposures were made from a site in the Southern French Alps
at an altitude of 2,800 meters (a little closer to the stars!)
in September of 2001.
APOD: 2002 February 13 - The Great Nebula in Orion
Explanation:
Few astronomical sights excite the imagination like the
nearby stellar nursery known as the
Orion Nebula.
The Nebula's glowing gas surrounds hot young stars at
the edge of an immense interstellar
molecular cloud only 1500 light-years away.
The Great Nebula in Orion can be
found with the unaided eye just below and to the left of the
easily identifiable
belt of three stars in the popular constellation Orion.
The above image has been contrast balanced to bring out Orion's detail
in spectacular fashion.
Visible simultaneously are the bright stars of the
Trapezium in
Orion's heart, the sweeping lanes of
dark dust that cross the center,
the pervasive red glowing hydrogen gas,
and the
blue tinted dust
that reflects the light of newborn stars.
The whole Orion Nebula cloud complex, which includes the
Horsehead Nebula,
will slowly disperse over the next 100,000 years.
APOD: 2001 January 30 - The Orion Nebula from VLT
Explanation:
The Great Nebula in Orion is a colorful place.
Visible to the unaided eye, it appears as a small
fuzzy patch in the
constellation of Orion.
But
this image, a representative-color composite of 81
near-infrared light images taken with
VLT's ISAAC, shows the
Orion Nebula to be a busy neighborhood of
young stars, hot gas, and dark dust.
The power behind much of the
Orion Nebula (M42) is the
Trapezium -
four of the brightest stars in the nebula.
The eerie blue glow surrounding the
bright stars pictured here is their own
starlight reflected by nearby
dust.
Dark brown
dust filaments
cover much of the region.
The whole
Orion Nebula cloud complex, which
includes the
Horsehead Nebula,
will slowly disperse over the next 100,000 years.
APOD: 2000 November 22 - The Orion Nebula in Hydrogen
Explanation:
The
Great Nebula in Orion can be found just below
and to the left of the easily identifiable
belt of three stars in the popular
constellation Orion.
This fuzzy patch,
visible to the unaided eye,
contains one of the closest
stellar nurseries, lying at a distance of about 1500
light years.
The
above picture highlights red light emitted
by the nebula's hydrogen gas.
Dark
dust
filaments punctuate regions of this glowing hydrogen
gas and reflect light from the
nebula's brightest stars.
Recent observations of the
Orion Nebula by the
Hubble Space Telescope
have located
solar-system sized regions that are
thought to be planet-forming circumstellar disks.
APOD: 2000 March 2 - NGC 1999: Reflection Nebula In Orion
Explanation:
A dusty bright nebula
contrasts dramatically with a dusty dark nebula in
this Hubble Space Telescope image recorded shortly
after December's orbital
servicing mission.
The nebula, cataloged as
NGC 1999, is a
reflection nebula,
which shines by reflecting light from
a nearby star.
Unlike emission nebulae, whose
reddish glow comes from
excited atoms of gas, reflection nebulae have a
bluish cast
as their interstellar dust
grains preferentially reflect blue
starlight.
While perhaps the most famous reflection nebulae surround
the bright young stars of the Pleiades
star cluster,
NGC 1999's stellar illumination is provided by the embedded variable star
V380
Orionis, seen here just left of center.
Extending right of center, the ominous
dark nebula is actually a condensation of cold molecular
gas and dust so thick and dense that it blocks light.
From our perspective it lies in front of the bright
nebula, silhouetted against the ghostly nebular glow.
New stars will likely form within
the dark cloud, called a Bok globule,
as self-gravity continues to compress its dense gas and dust.
Reflection nebula
NGC 1999
lies about 1500 light-years away in the constellation
Orion,
just south of Orion's well known emission nebula,
M42.
APOD: September 14, 1999 - The Colorful Orion Nebula
Explanation:
The Great Nebula in Orion is a colorful place.
Visible to the unaided eye as a
fuzzy patch in the
constellation of Orion,
this image
taken with the
Big Throughput Camera shows the
Orion Nebula to be a busy neighborhood of
young stars, hot gas, and dark dust.
The power behind much of the
Orion Nebula (M42) is the
Trapezium -
four of the brightest stars in the nebula.
The eerie blue glow surrounding the
bright stars pictured here is their own
starlight reflected by nearby
dust.
Hot oxygen and
hydrogen gases cause the
extended green and pink glows, respectively.
Dark brown
dust filaments
cover much of the region.
The whole
Orion Nebula cloud complex, which
includes the
Horsehead Nebula,
will slowly disperse over the next 100,000 years.
APOD: May 22, 1999 - M42: A Mosaic of Orion's Great Nebula
Explanation:
The Great Nebula in Orion,
an immense, nearby starbirth region, is
probably the most famous of all astronomical nebulae.
Here, 15 pictures from the
Hubble Space Telescope have been mosaicked
to cover the inner 2.5 light years of the nebula and illustrate
its diverse nature.
In addition to housing a bright open cluster of
stars known as the Trapezium, the Orion Nebula contains many
stellar nurseries.
These nurseries contain
hydrogen gas,
hot young stars,
proplyds, and stellar
jets spewing material at high speeds.
Most of the filamentary structures visible in this image are
actually shock waves -
fronts where fast moving material encounters slow moving gas.
Shocks are particularly apparent near the bright stars in the
lower left of the picture.
The Orion Nebula
is about 1500 light years distant, located in the same spiral arm of
our Galaxy as the
Sun.
APOD: February 2, 1999 - The Orion Nebula from Subaru
Explanation:
The Orion Nebula (M42) shows a host of treasures when viewed in
infrared light.
Some stars in the
Trapezium, an
open cluster
of stars at the center, are only visible in infrared light.
The orange feature above center is called the Kleinman-Low Nebula,
and appears greatly affected by newly forming central star IRc2.
The blue emission in this representative color photograph
is caused by hot gas ionized by the
Trapezium stars.
This is one of the
first photographs ever taken through Japan's new
Subaru Telescope.
APOD: April 21, 1998 - Water From Orion
Explanation:
Is Orion all wet?
Recent observations have confirmed
that water molecules now exist in the famous
Orion Nebula,
and are still forming.
The
Orion Nebula (M42, shown above) is known to be composed mostly of
hydrogen gas, with
all other atoms and molecules being comparatively
rare. The nebula is so
vast, though, that even the measured
minuscule production rate creates enough water to fill
Earth's oceans 60 times over every day,
speculate discoverers led by M. Harwit
(Cornell).
The water that composes
comets, the oceans of Earth, and even humans may have been created in a cloud like the Orion Nebula.
APOD: January 27, 1998 - The Great Nebula in Orion
Explanation:
The Great Nebula in Orion can be found just below and to
the left of the easily identifiable
belt of three stars in the popular constellation Orion.
This fuzzy patch contains one of the closest stellar nurseries,
lying at a distance of about 1500 light years.
In the above picture, the red region on the left consists of nebulae designated
M42 and M43 and contains the bright
Trapezium
open cluster.
The blue region on the right is a nebula
primarily
reflecting
the light from internal bright stars.
Recent observations of the
Orion Nebula by the
Hubble Space Telescope
have located solar-system sized
star-forming regions.
APOD: November 18, 1997 - In the Center of the Trapezium
Explanation:
Start with the constellation of Orion. Below
Orion's
belt is a fuzzy area known as the
Great Nebula of Orion or M42.
In this nebula is a bright star cluster known as the
Trapezium, shown above. New stellar systems are forming there in
gigantic globs of gas and dust known as
Proplyds.
Looking closely at the above picture also reveals that
gas and dust surrounding some of the dimmer stars
appears to form structures that point away from the brighter stars. The
above false color image
was made by combining several exposures from the
Hubble Space Telescope.
APOD: May 11, 1997 - M42: A Mosaic of Orion's Great Nebula
Explanation:
The Great Nebula in Orion,
an immense, nearby starbirth region, is
probably the most famous of all astronomical nebulae.
Here, 15 pictures from the
Hubble Space Telescope have been mosaicked
to cover the inner 2.5 light years of the nebula and illustrate
its diverse nature.
In addition to housing a bright open cluster of
stars known as the Trapezium, the Orion Nebula contains many
stellar nurseries.
These nurseries contain
hydrogen gas,
hot young stars,
proplyds, and stellar
jets spewing material at high speeds.
Most of the filamentary structures visible in this image are
actually shock waves -
fronts where fast moving material encounters slow moving gas.
Shocks are particularly apparent near the bright stars in the
lower left of the picture.
The Orion Nebula
is about 1500 light years distant, located in the same spiral arm of
our Galaxy as the
Sun.
APOD: November 21, 1995 - M42: Orion Nebula Mosaic
Explanation:
The Great Nebula in
Orion is one of the most interesting of all astronomical nebulae known.
Here fifteen
pictures from the
Hubble Space Telescope have been merged to show
the great expanse and diverse nature of the nebula. In addition to housing
a bright
open cluster of stars known as the
Trapezium, the Orion Nebula contains many
stellar nurseries. These nurseries contain
hydrogen gas,
hot young stars,
proplyds, and stellar
jets spewing material at high speeds. Much of
the filamentary structure visible in this image are actually shock waves -
fronts where fast moving material encounters slow moving gas. Some shock
waves are visible near one of the bright stars in the lower left of the
picture. The
Orion Nebula is located in the same spiral arm of
our Galaxy as is our
Sun. It takes light about 1500 years to
reach us from there.
APOD: July 3, 1995 - The Great Nebula in Orion
Explanation:
The Great Nebula in Orion, M42, can be found on the night sky just below and
to the left of the easily identifiable belt of three stars in the popular
constellation Orion. This nebula is one of the closest stellar nurseries -
where young stars are being formed even now.
Clumps of gas (mostly hydrogen and helium) and dust in the nebula
are squeezed together by their own gravity until they collapse and
form stars.
Some stars we can see here partially obscured by the nebula,
are only about 100,000 years
old - just babies compared to the 5 billion (5,000,000,000) years of
our Sun.